Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Polybius
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Polybius Rhymer

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These Dark Stars
A Feudal Space Roleplay




Alliance | Betrayal | Treaty | Sabotage

It is the 12th Millennium since galactic pacification, the era of the Darkstar by the Imperial Calendar...

You are a feudal Lord in service to the Emperor Reva Xem III. Long has the sword of the Imperial Arm hovered over your neck, long have you scraped at his feet for Imperial favor-more planets to add to your dominion, more weapons and ships. The era of the Darkstar is upon us, and certain Seers & Mystics have prophesied that the end of the Empire is at hand...Lords have risen to oppose the might of the Imperial Forces. Many more have condemned these flagrant and foolhardy traitors, either reaffirming their allegiance to House Xem or surreptitiously awaiting a more proper time to strike...



The Divine Emperor Reva Xem III




Introduction


Welcome to These Dark Stars, an open-world role play set in the final centuries of an ancient, galaxy spanning empire. This role play is always open to new players. I am not seeking the role of 'GM' specifically as I want this to be more in the spirit of collaborative fiction writing. I only want to provide some background and setting information for players to use as they wish.

Having said that, I will be playing the role of Emperor Reva Xem III at the start of the game. If you are interested in taking over the role at some point, send me a PM.

If you wish to join, familiarize yourself with current lore and characters, read over the character sheet and start writing. I ask that you follow some simple rules so the role play can maintain some sort of order and make it easier for everyone to be on the same page.




Setting Info














Getting Started


You are a Lord in service or open-rebellion to the Emperor. You have entire planets at your control, servants and subjects. You have a starship capable of leaping across space and time in an instant. Take care in crafting your character and always take into account what other players have written. Please no ridiculously barren 'WIP' sheets. Submit sheets in the OOC for public ridicule before posting IC.

Note: You are free to invent other types of characters for this roleplay, but I suggest you start with a member of the aristocracy.

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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Aleranicus
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One question I have before I start working on the template: How long has the Big E sat on the throne by the time the RP starts?
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by rush99999
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Also, is he human? Because if so, I don't recall ever meeting a human with grey skin.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Brink
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@Polybius I'm not locking myself into anything I just wanted to throw the idea out there, but if I wanted a lesser-role in the RP (I.E not an entire faction) would I be able to create one of these secondary characters for someone elses faction? (if they allowed me of course). Or could I even be someone affiliated with Reva Xem, be it his chief diplomat or maybe the guy he sends in to 'sort out problems' with people who don't pay taxes etc. So almost your secondary character.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Wadesauce
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Going to work on my CS today. @polybius a couple questions, I wanted to kind of make a dual character concept. I wanted to make a brother/sister combo character. They will basically be inseparable, therefore on the same sheet, is this a bad idea? If you want I could PM you some of the details.

@Brink I think it'd be cool to have affiliated characters. If GM has no problem with it, I would be willing to work out a team up situation.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Ghost Queen
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@Polybius
Does the Empire actually cover the entire galaxy or is that just what Reva likes to think?
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by BioHazard
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I'm very interested in the setting and story of the rp, only I'm not that good with nation RP's. Is there a possibility of being a character that is a somewhat relevant wanderer/rebel/soldier in the story? Or is controlling all your fleets and stuff not that important and does the rp mainly focus on the interaction between the lords and Reva and kinda is a Space Game of Thrones?
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Polybius
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I'll get back to you guys after work
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Ghost Queen
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@Polybius
Also what was the nature of your coup? Was the last emperor a bad leader or was Reva just an ambitious, power hungry tool?
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Polybius
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One question I have before I start working on the template: How long has the Big E sat on the throne by the time the RP starts?


Not going to nail down any specific amount of time (the can of worms that is calendar counting in a sci-fi setting is not something I'm up too tonight) but Reva and House Xem in general have held control for a long time. Several generations at least.

Also, is he human? Because if so, I don't recall ever meeting a human with grey skin.


I'll give you a few options and you pick the one that suits you best.
1) It's an artistic representation that mirrors the decaying nature of Reva's rule, or the Empire itself.
2) Divergent evolution on the myriad worlds of the Empire over the course of hundreds of thousands of years allow for greater variation in the appearance and biological function of 'homo sapiens'.
3)It's part of a religious practice either in A)painting the body with some sort of telepathy-inhibiting compound or a surgical procedure that's in fashion (like tattoos except it's your whole body).
^one of these is probably right, ambiguity ftw.

@Polybius I'm not locking myself into anything I just wanted to throw the idea out there, but if I wanted a lesser-role in the RP (I.E not an entire faction) would I be able to create one of these secondary characters for someone elses faction? (if they allowed me of course). Or could I even be someone affiliated with Reva Xem, be it his chief diplomat or maybe the guy he sends in to 'sort out problems' with people who don't pay taxes etc. So almost your secondary character.


Yes! I want players to come up with all sorts of characters. I'm only pushing for big roles early on so the setting gets fleshed out. This isn't just my universe-it belongs to everyone willing to make the effort to write. You can also make up new characters if you want-just tidy up any plotlines or kill them off or pass them on to someone else.

Going to work on my CS today. @polybius a couple questions, I wanted to kind of make a dual character concept. I wanted to make a brother/sister combo character. They will basically be inseparable, therefore on the same sheet, is this a bad idea? If you want I could PM you some of the details.

@Brink I think it'd be cool to have affiliated characters. If GM has no problem with it, I would be willing to work out a team up situation.


That's fine with me. Unless anyone else has a major problem with it, I don't see any issues.

@Polybius
Does the Empire actually cover the entire galaxy or is that just what Reva likes to think?


Think Rome or Feudal China but in space. Of course there are other civilizations, but they are considered barbaric or primitive, besides this RP is focused on the Empire .

I'm very interested in the setting and story of the rp, only I'm not that good with nation RP's. Is there a possibility of being a character that is a somewhat relevant wanderer/rebel/soldier in the story? Or is controlling all your fleets and stuff not that important and does the rp mainly focus on the interaction between the lords and Reva and kinda is a Space Game of Thrones?


Hey! Yes, join in with a single character-maybe get with someone else creating a noble house and enter there service. This has been likened to GoT-in-space, but I don't want to draw any direct comparisons.

@Polybius
Also what was the nature of your coup? Was the last emperor a bad leader or was Reva just an ambitious, power hungry tool?


Reva is ambitious, but no tool.
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Wadesauce
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@polybiusFee last things before I get started. Is psionics or any other kind of space magic a thing? Is the emperor considered the pinnacle of divinity or are their gods people worship? Are their demons, or supernatural like entities dissimilar to aliens?

Thanks! This is all shaping up nicely.

I'm going to post about my character/noble house very soon.
Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Polybius
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Polybius Rhymer

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@Wadesauce

(Under 'The Imperial Hierarchy')
The Emperor is also considered divine but tolerates religious freedom within his empire so long as it does not interfere with the politics of his divinity. Thousands of colloquial religions exist, each with their own pantheons and practices, but a tax is paid for every 'alternate' religious practitioner.


I haven't really thought about extra-planar entities and I am leaving it pretty ambiguous as to whether or not gods are real. I'm trying to avoid any real specifics about big questions because 1. It's a lot to ask people to read pages and pages of lore for a roleplay they might discard after a month and 2. Writing pages and pages of lore is just not my thing. I also wish for players to collaborate on stuff, sort of figure things out as we go.

EDIT: Telepathy is OK with me.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Aleranicus
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@Wadesauce

<Snipped quote by Polybius>

I haven't really thought about extra-planar entities and I am leaving it pretty ambiguous as to whether or not gods are real.


I'm not saying it's aliens, but... aliens!
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Thecrash20
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This rp sounds exciting! Might make a character and actually give me a reason to come here more often.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Polybius
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If anyone has a better character sheet format, speak up!
Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by BurningCold
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@Polybius I suggest multiple character sheets to fit the different roles that people might want to play. I find no issue with the one you made for the aristocracy, but if someone wants to play a secondary role, the sheet should certainly be different. If you agree, I could format one. My lord is currently a WIP, by the way.

EDIT: Perhaps sheets for submitting various bits of lore would be good too. We could all judge the submitted articles as a community and decide upon how best to implement each one.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Thecrash20
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Alright here is the first draft.@Polybius
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Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Aleranicus
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Well, my turn. WIP but gives ya'll an idea what I'm working on and can plan around accordingly. Will continue poking at it throughout the day.



Edit: Question @Polybius, before I finish things up, do you have an ETA on the first post?
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Polybius
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@AleranicusI was kind of hoping more people would throw down once the ooc was up, with all the interest expressed in the IC thread. As for me, I'm still working on Reva's sheet. Also, you might want to reel back your economic situation, as this is a feudal society but it's up to you I suppose.

Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by rush99999
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Just so you know, I'm dropping out of this RP. Good luck to the rest of you.
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